Archive for December 2011

BEIJING, Dec. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Starting March 10, 2012, Air China will resume Shanghai-Paris rotations CA833/4 and change the Shanghai-Beijing-Paris service CA933/4 to Beijing-Paris direct service. B777-300ER widebodies will be used on these routes to replace the original A340.

Air China’s Paris office recently invited nearly two hundred guests from the government as well as sectors of civil aviation, industry, commerce and travel, including French Minister for Transport Thierry Mariani and Chinese ambassador in Paris Mr. Kong Quan and his wife to a grand gala which was intended to generate appropriate publicity for the resumption of the direct link between Shanghai and Paris and the change of aircraft type on the Beijing-Paris route.

Since joining the Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline network, in 2007, Air China has been cementing its foothold in the international market. Its extensive route network places 1,160 destinations in 181 countries worldwide within easy reach. What Air China has done with respect to the Beijing-Paris market is just one of the moves that the carrier is making to shore up its international presence. In 2012, Air China will make further inroads into the overseas market. Take Europe as an example. The inauguration of links to Dusseldorf, Athens and Milan in 2011 will be followed by that of Beijing-Copenhagen rotations in 2012, which will bring Air China’s European destinations up to 13. Currently, Air China is the largest carrier serving the China-Europe market.

HONG KONG, Dec. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — With over 100 million RFID travel smart cards in circulation, Asia Pacific is the world-leader for secure and convenient travel. Experts believe that this tech savvy region could be the first adopters of NFC enabled mobile payment technology for future mobility solutions. CARTES in Asia exhibition and conference will showcase both RFID and NFC technologies at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong, 28 & 29 March 2012. This is a must-attend event for decision makers from government, transport, telecoms, banking, administrative, security and retail industries.

Asia Pacific’s early adopters

Hong Kong was the first to use an RFID smart card system in 1997. The Octopus card is now used by 95% of the population with 11 million transactions daily across metro, buses, ferries and more than 10,000 retail outlets. Many Asia Pacific cities and regions use similar cards. Major cities in Japan have lots of different types of transport cards. Beijing and Shanghai commuters use the Yikatong. Singaporeans use the EZ-Link smart card. Taiwan has the EasyCard and most recently (December) New Delhi’s government launched a “Common Mobility Card” called More. New Zealand is looking to launch similar technology to the Octopus in 2012.

The future — NFC and mobile payments

With advances in NFC technology and strong support from the government, NFC mobile phone payments may replace smart cards across major cities such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore because these cities have:

— A technology savvy urban population with more than
100% mobile phone penetration
— Governments strongly advocating the use of technology,
including NFC, to manage transport
— An agreement between all local transport companies to
take on transport/NFC projects co-ordinated by central
government.

Isabelle Alfano, Director of CARTES events, Comexposium, said: “Asia Pacific is way ahead of many countries around the world in terms of using smart cards. As RFID technology expands across the region into the smaller towns and cities it will bring many opportunities for suppliers of this technology. But at the same time, advances in NFC might mean that mobile payments will be the next step, and the general public will use mobile phones to pay for transport and groceries and other utilities.

“With a mature contactless acceptance infrastructure already existing, mass transit ticketing has always been considered as the killer app in market development of NFC before it can be extended to other multi-application uses,” added Alfano.

SHANGHAI, Dec. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — RS Components( http://www.rs-components.com ) (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc( http://www.electrocomponents.com ) (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has been named as the winner in the ‘Most Popular Software Platform/Development Tool’ category at the Electronic Engineering and Product World (EEPW) Editor Choice Awards in China. The company was recognised for its comprehensive range of free online design tools, including its multi-award winning DesignSpark PCB software.

Selected from a shortlist of six leading industry finalists within the category, RS Components received the accolade for its range of design resources launched across the last 18 months. Highlights include the DesignSpark online design community and free DesignSpark PCB software tool, as well as its vast library of free downloadable 3D CAD models. The innovative DesignSpark PCB software was highly commended by a panel of independent industry judges who cited it as an exceptional model that should inspire other companies to develop online platforms to support electronics design engineers. The panel was also impressed by the ease-of-use and robust functionality of these design tools, all provided free-of-charge.

DesignSpark PCB is part of the company＊s technical marketing strategy to connect with electronics design engineers at their virtual design bench, and provides the first professional standard, fully featured and unrestricted schematic capture and PCB layout tool developed for open use at zero cost. More than 100,000 users have downloaded the multi-award winning DesignSpark PCB since its launch in July 2010, with the tool proving to be one of the most popular free PCB design software packages available. RS Components released Version 3 of the tool in November this year to provide extra functionality for users.

Accepting the award at a ceremony at Peking University, Clement Zheng, Country Manager for China, RS Components, commented, ※We are delighted to be recognised in these awards for our commitment to providing engineers in the region with sophisticated yet simple-to-use free online design tools. There are substantial growth opportunities in China and it is important for engineers to know they can depend on support from RS Components throughout their product design cycles.§

Eric Lee, Technical Marketing Manager, Electronics, Asia Pacific, RS Components, added, ※RS Components has been quick to respond to the changing needs of engineers who increasingly rely on the Internet to complete their designs. Our free, online resources have transformed the find, design and buy experience for these customers and we are very pleased to see our efforts receiving recognition.§

About RS Components

RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products. Through operations in 32 countries and 17 warehouses, the Group serves 1.6 million customers worldwide and distributes 550,000 products ranging from semiconductors and optoelectronics to power tools and protective clothing. The product and service portfolio supports the entire product lifecycle from R&D through pre-production to maintenance and repair. The Group ships more than 46,000 parcels on the same day the orders are received.

Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year to 31 March 2011 had revenues of GBP1.18bn.

BEIJING, Dec. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Air China invited over 700 PhoenixMiles elite members to a poetry recital it organized at the grand theater of the National Museum of China in the evening of December 10, 2011. This gala imbued with the elements of both Chinese culture and Air China was intended to thank the company’s loyal customers for their longstanding patronage. Key executives from Air China in attendance included China National Aviation Holding General Manager Wang Changshun, Air China Party Secretary Fan Cheng and Air China Vice President Wang Mingyuan.

The recital was an impressive rendition of some of the most applauded poems and song lyrics dating from Tang and Song dynasties. At 7:30pm, the recital started with “Jing Ye Si” (Thoughts on a Tranquil Night) by children with sweet voices. That was followed by the great shows of some of China’s big-name performers like Fang Ming, Ding Jianhua, Qiao Zhen, Pu Cunxin, Xiao Xiong and Kai Li, to the accompaniment of Beijing Symphony Orchestra. The ancient poetry, the rendering and the music combined to have the crowd on its feet and draw rapturous applause.

“I grew up listening to the broadcast of Fang Ming and watching the foreign movies dubbed into Chinese by Qiao Zhen and Ding Jianhua,” said a PhoenixMiles member. “This time I’m so close to them. It’s fantastic.”

The recital was very well received by the PhoenixMiles members. They thanked Air China for having given them such a wonderful show and a unique opportunity to wind down.

TAIPEI, Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Taiwan is adding its flair for innovation to the global PC gaming industry. Brands like GIGABYTE, Thermaltake, and MSI are redefining the gaming landscape with their groundbreaking product design and rigorous promotion of e-sports.

Among the top Taiwan brands making a foray into the global market is motherboard maker GIGABYTE. The company offers a wide range of motherboards created specifically to enhance gameplay for hardcore users, such as its signature Ultra Durable model and G1-Killer series boards, as well as a platform of mouse and keyboards designed to get help gamers perform at the highest levels.

Stewart Haston, technical marketing specialist at GIGABYTE, spoke about Taiwan’s role in the PC gaming sector.

“As with the broader PC market in general, the gaming PC segment is in most respects, dominated by Taiwanese manufacturing and innovation,” he said. Haston also pointed out that Taiwan possesses a closely-knit eco-system of component manufacturers that make products specifically designed for and marketed directly to gamers.

Tt eSPORTS is another local brand taking PC gaming to the next level. Founded in 2010, the company is a unit of PC case and cooling equipment maker, Thermaltake. Tt eSPORTS boasts a product line designed by gamers, for gamers, including gaming keyboards, mouse, and headsets.

“Product-wise, for Taiwan to design the products only makes sense because our community is very active in the games,” said Liu. “We have a lot of room to grow for hardware, as there is no language barrier.”

Taiwan also stands at the forefront of countries that are turning PC gaming into a professional sport, with Tt eSPORTS leading the charge. According to Liu, there are 15 professional gaming teams under the Thermaltake name, including Team Thermaltake in Germany. The Tt eSPORTS team trains rigorously on the company premises each day to drive up Taiwan’s competitive edge in the field.

“I think Taiwan stands in a very good position for design and to promote the e-sports lifestyle,” said Liu. “That’s how we see the growth potential of Tt eSPORTS as unlimited. Our mission is to create a cultural brand in e-sports, lifestyle, and technology.”

Tt eSPORTS recently announced its sponsorship of the premier Malaysian gaming organization MUFC Esports. The company said the sponsorship would give it the opportunity to begin supporting the Malaysian gaming and eSports scene. It also said it hopes to help drive Malaysian and South-East Asian eSports into the spotlight of the global community.

MUFC’s Business Development Manager Wei Jiat Sim commented on the partnership, “We are proud to be partnering with Tt eSports, to jointly promote a positive culture of competitive gaming around the world.

MUFC Esports will be representing Tt eSPORTS at global Defense of the Ancients and Heroes of Newerth events and will be providing valuable field-testing of Tt eSPORTS products in the tournament setting.

Other Taiwan companies highly involved in the gaming PC sector include PC chassis maker Lian Li and PC-maker MSI, which a survey of world-leading overclocking website HWBOT showed consistently ranked in the top 10 of graphic cards. Taiwan also possesses a wide range of firms that manufacture 3rd party CPU coolers as well liquid cooling kits, coolers for system memory and additional system fans.

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was founded in 1970 to promote Taiwan’s foreign trade and competitiveness in world markets. Over the past 40 years, TAITRA has played a key role in the development of the Taiwan economy. TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the government and commercial associations and is viewed by all as the business gateway to Taiwan for the international business community. Please visit http://www.brandingtaiwan.org or http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw( http://www.taiwantrade.org.tw ) for more information.

CHENGDU, China, Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Starting January 5, Air China’s southwest offshoot will open rotations from Chengdu to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, also known as the “City of Temples”, giving culture enthusiasts an additional travel option. The introduction of the new services will bring the number of foreign destinations served by Air China’s flights to and from Chengdu up to six and further cement the city’s position as a regional hub of the carrier.

The two weekly flights, CA437 / 8, will be operated with A319 aircraft. The new services will spare the passengers the trouble of having to transfer in Lhasa, thusly cutting the travel time of one journey from 4 hours to 2 hours. Meanwhile, the new services will also optimize Air China’s Chengdu-based international route network.

Kathmandu has always been a draw for both domestic and international tourists. With Chengdu’s unique position in the travel market of southwest China, it is expected that leisure travelers will be the bulk of the passenger traffic on the route.

FC2 Blog (http://blog.fc2.com/id/) is a global Blog Service which began in Japan, but is now available in multiple languages. FC2 Blog is one of the oldest Blog Services, running in Japan since October 2004. Since first supporting English in May 2008, nine languages are now supported with Indonesian being the latest to the list.

FC2 Blog Merits:

FC2 Blog Integrated social networking tools such as an Auto-tweeting function and a Facebook “Like” button. User can choose over 5000 unique blog templates. FC2 Blog also developed complete customizability with the ability to edit the users’ template HTML and CSS. Also, FC2 Blog supports large numbers of blogger communities, especially for people interested in anime, manga and videos. A smartphone application for FC2 Blog will be launched shortly.

* How to get an FC2 Blog

1. Visit FC2 Blog ( http://blog.fc2.com/id ) and press the “Sign
Up” button.
2. Fill in the form and follow the prompts from your confirmation
email.
3. Enter in basic blog info and choose a template.

Beginning with FC2 Blog, FC2 supports dozens of services in Japanese, and many different services in multiple languages. FC2.com maintains the 4th highest traffic ranking in Japan according to Alexa. (Alexa Ranking: http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/JP)

* The following services are expected to be supported in Indonesian.

— The FC2 Counter service will be supported in Indonesian a few days
after Indonesian FC2 Blog is released.
— Many other services (FC2 Video, FC2 Analyzer etc.) are also
expected to be released in Indonesian in the future.